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Maybe look at cities that managed to go from modernist car centric to traditionalist human centric design successfully and how they done it. How did they manage to convince people to demolish modernist architecture/neighborhoods in replacement of traditional architecture/neighborhoods?
Grand Rapids. A city that is fighting like hell to preserve its walkability and transit-friendliness, which is better than average, but gradually being eroded by increasing suburban development. The big highway through town, US-131, is nearing the end of its operational lifetime, and there is a big push from the local urbanist community (including the Strong Towns chapter) to replace it with a pedestrian-friendly boulevard of some kind. Currently, Grand Rapids' downtown preserves a lot of the original architecture, and it is a charming place to walk through. But even that is under threat by institutions like Corewell Health and which have begun turning lots of valuable space into parking lots/garages and eroding the walkability of neighborhoods.
Charleston is expensive because people want what Charleston has. The solution is not to change Charleston-and get rid of the very thing people want in the process. The solution is build more places like Charleston.
@@abrahambendavid.7474 I agree entirely. Also, take note of the people in Charleston who actually constitute the town. Look at the manner of them, the things which they busy themselves about. This is what effectively makes Charleston what it is. This must never be forgotten.
Yeah but you don’t have to commit Europe’s mistakes, where regulations are so strict that they cause a lack of housing, making prices to become unaffordable for everyone.
ok but seriously I never thought there was a town/city in the USA that is restoring the damage that was done in the 50s and 60s from poorly planned urban renewal, the fact that people are moving in the city mainly because of the architecture and friendly pedestrian infrastructure shows that beauty is beneficial for cities, cities like Buffalo, St Louis and Cincinnati that got damaged can be beautifully revived in buildings and infrastructure, not just for cities but maybe the USA as a whole should go back to focusing on beauty
I'm European who always wanted to live in the US, but the lack of 'pretty' cities kinda keeps from achieving this dream. You feel so much better, even you have a bad day, when you can walk through a nice looking city. When every building makes you happy that you're here.
Actual good government-funded urbanism in a North American city? Never thought I'd see the day! Now, let's hope this urbanism is anchored by new public transit sometime in the future!
There is a BRT project in development that is desperately needed going up into north charleston where lower income workers live. Service industry workers cannot afford to live in any of the places shown in this video unfortunately.
What really irks me is that architecture schools are still teaching modernism NOW. They still say it is important to build "of this age" while showing buildings from the 1950s.
I've been to Charleston and Savannah, GA. The U.S. has some beautiful and fascinating historical architecture and a distinctly American design language when constructed like we see in Charleston. It's really a shame that we still build what we build today. Charleston would be a great place to move to, but the cost of living downtown is still very high, and many amenities are located in the North suburbs. I hope that modernism eventually fades, and the general public realizes what we can achieve when we properly plan our cities.
You do NOT want to live downtown! Trust me, I did and loved it and hated it. Difficult parking, flooding, tourists and people peeking into your windows and over the garden wall.
@@leDespicable Yeah, downtown Charleston really needs to rebuild its old trolley network. And they also need to move the amtrak station downtown. That will help immensely with the number of cars going into the city.
@@leDespicable Yes and so in Charleston that that was built long before the car. However, I could park on my property and had a carriage house to park my cars. Most did not have that luxury. Living in Charleston downtown has a lot of issues that people may or not be aware of like the frequent flooding a high tide.
The sad part is that because downtown is now a historic district, the city has become heavily gentrified. The city is currently unaffordable to everyday American. All the more reason to make this a trend. And I don't think those modernist buildings are bad at all. They have unique symmetrical form with masonry facades, which is way better than brutalism and glass monoliths.
Brutalism is one of the worst styles ever invented. The enormous amount of glass monoliths aren't particularly appealing either. I think modernism isn't that great, it's just better than some of the worst things we have ever invented.
@@SomeDudeQC The main reason this channel exists is because most people think that stuff is ugly and want to make beautiful architecture again. Most people agree that brutalism is ugly and traditional architecture is beautiful.
@@MatthewGraham027 the main reason this channel exists is to subjectively call an entire architectural movement ugly? Edit:Also traditional means nothing and is of itself subjective.
I visited Charleston this year and I was absolutely floored at how beautiful it is. I think a lot of why it is successful is because there are no highways going through the historic district. The sprawl outside of it is quite bad though! That parking lot on Market St stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise incredible area, that is great news that they are doing something with it!
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Me too, I was kidding, and a midsized city like Charleston needs midrises height limit up to 15 floors max. with different European, Art deco, neoclassical, and Beaux-Arts Archi styles.
Imagine what you could do with all of those empty lots in Buffalo. You could build such nice low/medium density buildings and make it a very nice place again
If the planning costs weren't so high, it would be such a low-cost, high-impact transformation to the area. And it wouldn't take very long to materialize; maybe 1-2 years until the first buildings are completed, with residents flooding in over the next decade.
We need a couple of mixed use buildings of 20 to 30 floors on a couple of those empty lots. Our skyline needs a couple of major additions. Something designed in good aesthetic taste and not some drab uninviting chunk of concrete with tiny windows or the cheap crappy low rises with the painted aluminum and vinyl siding that are popping up around Buffalo.
@@r.pres.4121 I would put those within the downtown area. I think the city needs more density along the more major roads (Broadway). I'm seeing on the map that some 3+ story apartments are being built, but they have a pretty boring design. I was looking at a some new buildings in a different city and they have a European design which looks very nice.
Charleston is okay. the historic city center/peninsula is charming and very walkable but there so much sprawl on the periphery. Great place for biking but public transportation leaves a lot to be desired
It's weird too, when I was in college around 2016 biking was pretty prevalent. We even had cool bike auctions. I think it really dropped off after a major bike accident. Idk what happened, but it seemed like everyone just... stopped biking?
@howtubeable That's the cringe factor of city beautification people. It's geared for gentrification and getting rid of the "undesirables." See Atlanta.
I appreciate that you are one of the few urbanist channels who also care about architectural beauty, as modernist car-centric infrastructure and modernist architecture are inextricably tied together. I think the reason many people are dissuaded from going back to traditional city planning is because in the minds of some people, walkability is now associated with soulless, modernist urban cores. However, I would like you to look into "architectural illiteracy", which is the fashioning of buildings to appear a certain style without the architect actually being informed in that style. In terms of traditionally inspired buildings being erected today, fake classical massively outnumbers genuine classical. I know it doesn't seem that important, but it leads to tacky and fake looking traditional buildings that people also hate and call it things like Disneyland architecture, and further drives people towards modernism. The Gaillard Center at 2:20 is authentic, as were some other structures, but many of the other examples you showed were not . The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art has a great article on this subject. I don't see classical architecture making a full recovery unless the architectural world is cognizant of this issue.
Modernist architecture I think can be used to build new buildings in centre cities, even historic areas, provided the buildings respect the surrounding architecture and conform to the proportioning referred to by books like _The Golden Section_ and _The Old Way of Seeing._
As someone whose family has been in Charleston for a very long time, I want to give some thoughts on your video and take. First the US was one the last of the western countries to abolish slavery. It is amusing to me how your pictures in the beginning are almost empty of cars whether parked or driving when in reality downtown is in near gridlock all the time and finding street parking is almost impossible. You didn't mention how the College of Charleston keeps growing and can take any building by eminent domain--and they have, over and over again. Up until maybe 20 years ago there was housing for lower and middle income people available downtown, now because of ever rising property taxes---Charleston re-asseses every year, and sky-high home prices only the rich can live downtown. And just like anywhere else if you have enough $ you can tear down any building you want and build any monstrosity you want, BAR or no BAR
Bless you for highlighting our preservation, people don't understand that preservation here is unlike anywhere else in America. not even Savannah, Nola or Boston can say the same for their architectural feats.
@@SomeDudeQC preservation is what keeps other countries alive while America falls at the hands of "diversifying" every thing amd keep up to date with the status quo. Charleston is the most historical city in America why not keep it that way. Most of European cities do what Charleston does. Just look at the way they rebuilt Dresden Germany.
The US was certainly not one of the first countries to end slavery, at least not among Western countries and one of very few to start a war to preserve it. Anyways, Charleston's architecture isn't "slavery architecture", we can love the buildings and their styles and hate their history, most heritage around the world was built upon crushing oppression and that should always be remembered.
Charleston isn’t really growing fast. It has annexed 100’s of square miles in recent decades and then built suburban sprawl. The low country is a sprawled out suburban nightmare with traffic congestion that rivals much bigger cities.
I like this series, gives you hope to what remains of old American architecture that wasn’t downright destroyed during the highway boom. You should try New Orleans, I feel that the French quarter is something that is worth talking about in terms of preservation.
The U.S. was not one of the first countries to end slavery. When compared to other colonial powers and even their territories, the U.S. was incredibly late to abolishing slavery
I’ve been watching your videos for the past couple weeks and I’m amazed by your work instead of the topic being lost architecture it is the opposite im glad I found your channel
Amazing! This is the kind of news that I've been CRAVING for. Bravo to the city of Charleston and South Carolina! Can't wait for movements like this to grow and improve all accross North America
I am so grateful for this channel. In a world bombarded with ugliness - music, art, architecture - it is good to know there is a revival, a fight back against the darkness that is banal and bureaucratically soul-crushing.
I couldn’t afford to live in Charleston, but I visited last summer and had a great time. Walking around I was able to visit many nice places and the architecture is beautiful. I did not expect it to be my favorite place that I visited on that trip.
with rising temperatures and ocean water levels, Charleston is one Cat-5 hurricane away from being wiped off the map. It already floods on a regular basis, and the heat/humidity is unbearable unless you're in air-conditioning.
This was a great video Alex, thank you for putting in the work! Charleston seems to be disproving the YIMBY talking point that design review boards inhibit growth and density. The city is growing up without sacrificing the character and history that make it unique. Every city in America could learn from this example: practical, beautiful design on the human scale, using durable materials and quality construction practices, is the type of growth that fosters pride in a community.
Charleston is one of my favourite American cities. I've never been, but images of it conjure up a kind of nostalgia for me, it's like a mix of all the places I usually go on vacation in (namely the Spanish Mediterranean and British Seaside Towns). I hope to visit it for myself some day.
Let's hope this spearheads a Renaissance of American cities . I have been saddened by what I have seen taking place over the last decades, and it is happening in Britain now as well.
There are cities in Poland, Germany, Hungary and elsewhere in Europe rebuilding back the classic architecture that was destroyed by that madman in WWII, one rebuild is the Főőrség palace next to Buda Castle in Budapest, it looks stunning and like it was always there!
Certainly, Charleston's revitalization is impressive, and it's great that they have the political will and the resources to push the city in a more livable direction. However, for the sake of generalizing this sort of walkability and QoL boom, the baseline focus should be on figuring out how the government can get out of the way of people who love their towns and want to do these sorts of projects on a small scale. The best cities in the country were all initially built through incremental change, each person or family taking small steps to build something new, eventually accumulating to . . . 'the magic of the city', if you will. A period of rebuilding civic pride via individual investment and the putting down of roots will be necessary so that what keeps the city developing in a positive way is something as durable as culture, not something as transient as political machinery. Thanks for sharing.
Many blacks left Charleston during the Jim Crow era for cities like NYC for example but Charleston still had a black majority well into the 1990s. It's only been in the last 20-30 years where the black population has decreased as a percentage of the total population dramatically. Unfortunately many of those families have been priced out of the city with the new growth. U can barely even find anyone with a native Charleston accent. The city has improved a lot but it has lost some of its uniqueness and culture in the last 30 years
4:49 When you mention this, I think it harms your argument more than helps it. The horror of American slavery, and I mean this for all of the Americas, comes from the fact that it was chattel and especially cruel and dehumanizing, more than in other places of the premodernist world. In other places, slaves had rights, but in the Americas they were treated like cattle. Also, I don't know about Charleston specifically, but during Reconstruction there were many Black communities that were wealthy and had since been destroyed because of racism like Wilmington, NC, or Tulsa, OK.
These are great videos. I worry, that new urbanism risks being the urban renewal of the future. This, largely because the development/ownership model, as with urban renewal, is concentrated among a relatively few players. One of the things about cities like Boston or other older cities, you’ve looked at is that they grew organically via a bunch of small players who had an immediate interest in their surroundings because they worked and lived and played and owned locally. I would be curious what the ownership model is for Charleston because in the long term, commitment and investment, at least American style, seems to rely individual ownership. Beautiful architecture alone, while important can’t ultimately do all that is necessary for strong communities and thus strong urban places. Keep up the good work on your videos.! And thanks.
Hurricane Hugo was one of the best things to happen to Charleston in modern times. Prior to Hugo, Charleston was doing quite well. After Hugo, the pace and quality of rebuilding really took off into the new century. There is still a lot of awful modern buildings that are still there that could either be replaced or remodeled. The area where I-26 terminates at King St. used to be really, really bad but even that has improved greatly. Outside of the historic areas, North Charleston itself has improved quite a bit. It used to be a bunch of trailer parks up by the Air Force Base. Lived there in a house just off Tradd St 1994 - 2005. Listed the house and had four offers in three days over asking price. Moved west - way west. Hate the idea that the Nathaniel Russel House is being sold and may turn back into a private residence. Oh well. Charleston is a beautiful place to visit but it is too small, TOO conservative and too backwards. Visiting now feels like walking back to 1984.
The fact the present day photos STILL make it look appealing despite the horrendous HDR deep-frying is a true testament to the actual beauty they've achieved.
Charleston is Beautiful but it's expensive and with limited land I think it's time for Charleston to so vertical or it's gonna become so unlivably expensive that it will start to resemble NYC. There's plenty of empty lots and abandoned buildings to build denser more pedestrian friendly places. We're fighting the same fight here in Columbia,SC trying to get the city to build denser places over these car centric developments.
Esse exemplo pode ser replicado nas áreas destruídas pela enchente em Canoas e Pprtp alegre.... claro, com infraestrutura resiliente a cheias. Aqui no RS precisamos reconstruir tudo.
"almost noobody alive in charleston would support such a thing such as slavery or jim crow" hey real quick what happened in charleston on June 17th 2015
Civilised society is a construct that needs to be maintained by more than just the people. If people are not given opportunity, they will become cynical.
@@shitlordflytrap1078 Peace be with you as I'm not pointing this message at you. Just my thoughts. Civilized people build and create their societies. Not sit at home waiting for hand outs. There are 350 million people in this country. only 150 million of them even work. Cut everyone off entitlements, except the elderly, and put everyone to work building a better community.
Actually *GOOD* layout everyone everywhere is moving there! My big sister moved there my uncle lives with my sister and when im able im moving there! The traffic there sucks that needs alot of work worse in the mornings and eveningss ANYWAYS i don't even live there yet i love that town 🥰☺️
The problem with Charleston is the hurricanes and flood surges. In fact im wary of any coastal city. You really have to build everything with solid Concrete and elevated land to survive. This is true even if climate change wasn’t a thing.
Will including wilmington, nc a rising city since is one of the fastest growing city in North Carolina? Charleston really need building density, better bus tranportation, light rail lines and downtown amtrak train station.
How do you feel about a land value tax replacing other taxes/lowering other taxes (especially property tax)? It would promote growth and development in cities and in the economy as a whole as it would practically stop land speculating. It would also lower cost of housing and rent. Those who live in the city will have higher land taxes and those who live farther away from it will have lower land taxes since urban areas are more desirable (supply and demand). This wouldn’t kick people who work or produce something however because of the other part of the system, the citizen’s dividend. A part of the tax revenue will go back to the citizen’s a the form of a citizens dividend which will prevent people from being forced to leave if they do something for the city unlike land speculators. Also, since these people would only pay a land value tax as their main tax; they would keep more of their income, savings, and earnings if a business since other taxes will be lower. This would not hurt farmers as the tax is based off value of land, not how much land you have and since farmers are found in rural areas, they will be taxed less. These farmers would also pay no property taxes and their other taxes would be lower. Everyone already pays a land value tax, but it is so low that it might as well not exist. One of the challenges regarding land value tax is how it would be assessed and there are multiple ways which include what natural resources are in your land such as water, how far away your land is from a metropolitan area, how much people are willing to buy for it in the form of an auction, and so on. Georgism is the best economic policy images.app.goo.gl/tw3GhgRe7YxpnH4GA images.app.goo.gl/ZDuUXujyzzzD5sEg7 images.app.goo.gl/vsvyrtq2qHuJEEo56 th-cam.com/video/3wpmtwDPEFw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ETkV1RJ0AcynhMBD th-cam.com/video/sTxyNQ0ea-k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=EhZCXX4wylHQtXqb Detroit Michigan is implementing a higher land tax to solve its problems: th-cam.com/users/live_A_Z96gZxIM?si=tXMrT9gkxC2C-_cz What a land tax would stop: th-cam.com/video/xqQhoZgFZgk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=itzesIpOL2SBdRXr Edit: A land value tax also has zero dead weight/is inelastic/ and cannot be avoided since you can’t move land thus making it a tax that doesn’t hurt the economy (does the opposite) and is very stable. 2nd Edit: This would also encourage public transportation and things of the like since it would raise the value of the city meaning higher taxes to the city for more projects, but this wouldn’t affect the citizens at all because their citizen’s dividend would also go up. It’s a possible cycle of growth and development that benefits the citizen’s and its city. Think of it like this: Land value tax is $28 Government gets $14 And citizens get back $14 As long as the citizen works or does anything to earn money then they can easily afford to live in the location. If land tax increases to $300 Government gets $150 Citizens get back $150 As long as the citizen works or produces something then they can pay the tax, eventually the cost of living might become too much; but houses and rent would cost way less than they do now so you’ll be able to easily find another home. You could move or rent a store/house above or below your house to earn more income, but like I said before this won’t be necessary for most places. This is how land valuation tax would also help stop urban sprawl since developers would rather start building upward on the same plot of land rather than outward and gain more land which would mean more taxes.
Visited Sacramento a couple times and loved it. You can feel that it's like a Agricultural and farm production Heart of California. The surrounding fields of the city low key feel like an African Savannah Lol, especially like Folsom lake. I love that NorCal also has a huge variety of Victorian era homes. I'm over in San Diego, we're like the Defense City of Cali with all the military 👋😂
Some of the buildings shown are terribly designed. Their footprints and visual mass is out of kilter with the architectural styles being used. I get the requirement to use heritage materials and maximize site value but some of the proportions of these buildings look ridiculous. How some of these got past an 'architectural board' are beyond me. Well done for preserving the other built heritage though.
Looks nice (looks way too expensive for the dwindling middle class), but then again, I’m not fond of urban areas. I’m not a fan of boards and councils dictating what people can do with their property either.
Let’s be careful about glorifying Greystar. They are among the most predatory corporate landlords in the country. They should not get credit for doing things that are in their own self interest.
If out of their own self interest they make Charleston a better place to live, then that’s a win. I agree laws and regulations have to change, but you gotta take your wins in the meantime.
Which city should I do next?
Maybe look at cities that managed to go from modernist car centric to traditionalist human centric design successfully and how they done it. How did they manage to convince people to demolish modernist architecture/neighborhoods in replacement of traditional architecture/neighborhoods?
Santa Barbara?
Boston
Portland, Oregon ;)
Grand Rapids. A city that is fighting like hell to preserve its walkability and transit-friendliness, which is better than average, but gradually being eroded by increasing suburban development. The big highway through town, US-131, is nearing the end of its operational lifetime, and there is a big push from the local urbanist community (including the Strong Towns chapter) to replace it with a pedestrian-friendly boulevard of some kind. Currently, Grand Rapids' downtown preserves a lot of the original architecture, and it is a charming place to walk through. But even that is under threat by institutions like Corewell Health and which have begun turning lots of valuable space into parking lots/garages and eroding the walkability of neighborhoods.
Charleston is expensive because people want what Charleston has. The solution is not to change Charleston-and get rid of the very thing people want in the process. The solution is build more places like Charleston.
exactly
One of the best places to visit.
@@abrahambendavid.7474 I agree entirely. Also, take note of the people in Charleston who actually constitute the town. Look at the manner of them, the things which they busy themselves about. This is what effectively makes Charleston what it is. This must never be forgotten.
“Charleston is expensive”…compared to where? Aiken SC? 😂
Yeah but you don’t have to commit Europe’s mistakes, where regulations are so strict that they cause a lack of housing, making prices to become unaffordable for everyone.
ok but seriously I never thought there was a town/city in the USA that is restoring the damage that was done in the 50s and 60s from poorly planned urban renewal, the fact that people are moving in the city mainly because of the architecture and friendly pedestrian infrastructure shows that beauty is beneficial for cities, cities like Buffalo, St Louis and Cincinnati that got damaged can be beautifully revived in buildings and infrastructure, not just for cities but maybe the USA as a whole should go back to focusing on beauty
Yeah been to both Buffalo and Charleston, night and day difference
san antonio NEEDS this
Neither did I
Doesnt he say in the Cincinnati video that it is recovering?
I'm European who always wanted to live in the US, but the lack of 'pretty' cities kinda keeps from achieving this dream. You feel so much better, even you have a bad day, when you can walk through a nice looking city. When every building makes you happy that you're here.
Actual good government-funded urbanism in a North American city? Never thought I'd see the day! Now, let's hope this urbanism is anchored by new public transit sometime in the future!
Let's hope so indeed
There is a BRT project in development that is desperately needed going up into north charleston where lower income workers live. Service industry workers cannot afford to live in any of the places shown in this video unfortunately.
You want to toss your freedom in the trash and replace it with government-controlled mass transit??? No thanks.
What really irks me is that architecture schools are still teaching modernism NOW. They still say it is important to build "of this age" while showing buildings from the 1950s.
I've been to Charleston and Savannah, GA. The U.S. has some beautiful and fascinating historical architecture and a distinctly American design language when constructed like we see in Charleston. It's really a shame that we still build what we build today. Charleston would be a great place to move to, but the cost of living downtown is still very high, and many amenities are located in the North suburbs. I hope that modernism eventually fades, and the general public realizes what we can achieve when we properly plan our cities.
You do NOT want to live downtown! Trust me, I did and loved it and hated it. Difficult parking, flooding, tourists and people peeking into your windows and over the garden wall.
Car culture and carbrain mentality need to fade too.
@@kennixox262 Difficult parking is always an issue in downtown areas though, isn't it?
@@leDespicable Yeah, downtown Charleston really needs to rebuild its old trolley network. And they also need to move the amtrak station downtown. That will help immensely with the number of cars going into the city.
@@leDespicable Yes and so in Charleston that that was built long before the car. However, I could park on my property and had a carriage house to park my cars. Most did not have that luxury. Living in Charleston downtown has a lot of issues that people may or not be aware of like the frequent flooding a high tide.
What a beautiful city, I truly hope that a comeback like this happens to Hartford one day.
I saw a video on Hartford, that town needs it the most!
I think that starts with removing the corrupt political class at the state and city levels.
And Bridgeport, New Haven
The sad part is that because downtown is now a historic district, the city has become heavily gentrified. The city is currently unaffordable to everyday American. All the more reason to make this a trend. And I don't think those modernist buildings are bad at all. They have unique symmetrical form with masonry facades, which is way better than brutalism and glass monoliths.
Brutalism is one of the worst styles ever invented. The enormous amount of glass monoliths aren't particularly appealing either. I think modernism isn't that great, it's just better than some of the worst things we have ever invented.
@@MatthewGraham027It's subjective
@@SomeDudeQC The main reason this channel exists is because most people think that stuff is ugly and want to make beautiful architecture again. Most people agree that brutalism is ugly and traditional architecture is beautiful.
@@MatthewGraham027 the main reason this channel exists is to subjectively call an entire architectural movement ugly?
Edit:Also traditional means nothing and is of itself subjective.
I visited Charleston this year and I was absolutely floored at how beautiful it is. I think a lot of why it is successful is because there are no highways going through the historic district. The sprawl outside of it is quite bad though!
That parking lot on Market St stuck out like a sore thumb in an otherwise incredible area, that is great news that they are doing something with it!
I agree it's crazy how beautiful it is, also the food is good and the people are super kind
We need skyscrapers. Glassy ones and with stilts just like in Hartford. JUST KIDDING. CHARLESTON IS BEAUTIFUL ❤❤❤ Thanks for featuring it!
Had me in the first half, lmao
Got a chuckle out of this as a Hartford area native
skyscrapers can be beautiful too… the art deco ones are great
I’m against high rises, they look good in NYC but everywhere else it’s just an eyesore
@@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606 Me too, I was kidding, and a midsized city like Charleston needs midrises height limit up to 15 floors max. with different European, Art deco, neoclassical, and Beaux-Arts Archi styles.
One problem though: in order to fit the model of an urbanist city, you need to have good public transit
Imagine what you could do with all of those empty lots in Buffalo. You could build such nice low/medium density buildings and make it a very nice place again
If the planning costs weren't so high, it would be such a low-cost, high-impact transformation to the area. And it wouldn't take very long to materialize; maybe 1-2 years until the first buildings are completed, with residents flooding in over the next decade.
We need a couple of mixed use buildings of 20 to 30 floors on a couple of those empty lots. Our skyline needs a couple of major additions. Something designed in good aesthetic taste and not some drab uninviting chunk of concrete with tiny windows or the cheap crappy low rises with the painted aluminum and vinyl siding that are popping up around Buffalo.
@@r.pres.4121 I would put those within the downtown area. I think the city needs more density along the more major roads (Broadway). I'm seeing on the map that some 3+ story apartments are being built, but they have a pretty boring design. I was looking at a some new buildings in a different city and they have a European design which looks very nice.
Buffalo has so much potential. Unfortunately progress is glacially slow there 🐌 But it is happening ✌️ #buffalove
Charleston is okay. the historic city center/peninsula is charming and very walkable but there so much sprawl on the periphery. Great place for biking but public transportation leaves a lot to be desired
It's weird too, when I was in college around 2016 biking was pretty prevalent. We even had cool bike auctions.
I think it really dropped off after a major bike accident. Idk what happened, but it seemed like everyone just... stopped biking?
Yes. Rich people live in the historic city center. Working-class people live in the sprawling suburbs where life is affordable. Think about that.
@howtubeable That's the cringe factor of city beautification people. It's geared for gentrification and getting rid of the "undesirables." See Atlanta.
Well hopefully the rest of Charleston will eventually be like the historic center after they see how successful it is.
If they get more public transport like lightrail and busses the city would be perfect
I appreciate that you are one of the few urbanist channels who also care about architectural beauty, as modernist car-centric infrastructure and modernist architecture are inextricably tied together. I think the reason many people are dissuaded from going back to traditional city planning is because in the minds of some people, walkability is now associated with soulless, modernist urban cores.
However, I would like you to look into "architectural illiteracy", which is the fashioning of buildings to appear a certain style without the architect actually being informed in that style. In terms of traditionally inspired buildings being erected today, fake classical massively outnumbers genuine classical. I know it doesn't seem that important, but it leads to tacky and fake looking traditional buildings that people also hate and call it things like Disneyland architecture, and further drives people towards modernism. The Gaillard Center at 2:20 is authentic, as were some other structures, but many of the other examples you showed were not . The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art has a great article on this subject. I don't see classical architecture making a full recovery unless the architectural world is cognizant of this issue.
Modernist architecture I think can be used to build new buildings in centre cities, even historic areas, provided the buildings respect the surrounding architecture and conform to the proportioning referred to by books like _The Golden Section_ and _The Old Way of Seeing._
I am a little surprised he didn't mention i'on in Mt. Pleasant. I know it's a different city, but same MSA and a really awesome project.
Charleston needs a light rail that goes from Downtown to the Airport.
Light rail would be great, but it'd be nice if they even had slightly ok bus service
And a downtown train station.
every American city needs a light rail
As someone whose family has been in Charleston for a very long time, I want to give some thoughts on your video and take. First the US was one the last of the western countries to abolish slavery. It is amusing to me how your pictures in the beginning are almost empty of cars whether parked or driving when in reality downtown is in near gridlock all the time and finding street parking is almost impossible. You didn't mention how the College of Charleston keeps growing and can take any building by eminent domain--and they have, over and over again. Up until maybe 20 years ago there was housing for lower and middle income people available downtown, now because of ever rising property taxes---Charleston re-asseses every year, and sky-high home prices only the rich can live downtown. And just like anywhere else if you have enough $ you can tear down any building you want and build any monstrosity you want, BAR or no BAR
Bless you for highlighting our preservation, people don't understand that preservation here is unlike anywhere else in America. not even Savannah, Nola or Boston can say the same for their architectural feats.
NIMBYs
@@SomeDudeQC preservation is what keeps other countries alive while America falls at the hands of "diversifying" every thing amd keep up to date with the status quo. Charleston is the most historical city in America why not keep it that way. Most of European cities do what Charleston does. Just look at the way they rebuilt Dresden Germany.
The US was certainly not one of the first countries to end slavery, at least not among Western countries and one of very few to start a war to preserve it. Anyways, Charleston's architecture isn't "slavery architecture", we can love the buildings and their styles and hate their history, most heritage around the world was built upon crushing oppression and that should always be remembered.
Yeah that was a weird thing to say haha
Charleston isn’t really growing fast. It has annexed 100’s of square miles in recent decades and then built suburban sprawl. The low country is a sprawled out suburban nightmare with traffic congestion that rivals much bigger cities.
I like this series, gives you hope to what remains of old American architecture that wasn’t downright destroyed during the highway boom. You should try New Orleans, I feel that the French quarter is something that is worth talking about in terms of preservation.
The Garden District and Canal Street too
What a triumph! And it's not just blocky five-over-ones. Any city can do the same if they have the guts to!
The U.S. was not one of the first countries to end slavery. When compared to other colonial powers and even their territories, the U.S. was incredibly late to abolishing slavery
I’ve been watching your videos for the past couple weeks and I’m amazed by your work instead of the topic being lost architecture it is the opposite im glad I found your channel
Love this series, can’t wait to see what other cities are full of history and beautiful architecture.
Amazing! This is the kind of news that I've been CRAVING for.
Bravo to the city of Charleston and South Carolina! Can't wait for movements like this to grow and improve all accross North America
Magnificent piece about a superb response to devastation. Charleston is on my list now, with the art deco glory of Napier in NZ, as must-see.
charleston is beautiful and theres a decent amount of things to do if your visiting, i live around here u shld definitely peep cs this city is fire
This happened everywhere in the 60’s and 70’s. During that period there was a clear contempt for historic buildings.
I am so grateful for this channel. In a world bombarded with ugliness - music, art, architecture - it is good to know there is a revival, a fight back against the darkness that is banal and bureaucratically soul-crushing.
Wow, it all looks so well designed and beautifully urbanist. I will deff have to plan a trip to Charleston in the near future.
Great video man, I love your stuff. I think you should really cover Nashville or Pittsburg next.
Of all of the places, I honestly wouldn't have expected a Southern city to be doing this well with restoring a city. Good on you!
I couldn’t afford to live in Charleston, but I visited last summer and had a great time. Walking around I was able to visit many nice places and the architecture is beautiful. I did not expect it to be my favorite place that I visited on that trip.
with rising temperatures and ocean water levels, Charleston is one Cat-5 hurricane away from being wiped off the map. It already floods on a regular basis, and the heat/humidity is unbearable unless you're in air-conditioning.
This was a great video Alex, thank you for putting in the work! Charleston seems to be disproving the YIMBY talking point that design review boards inhibit growth and density. The city is growing up without sacrificing the character and history that make it unique. Every city in America could learn from this example: practical, beautiful design on the human scale, using durable materials and quality construction practices, is the type of growth that fosters pride in a community.
I lived in downtown Charleston for a few years. It truly is a very walkable, beautiful, safe city.
Charleston is one of my favourite American cities. I've never been, but images of it conjure up a kind of nostalgia for me, it's like a mix of all the places I usually go on vacation in (namely the Spanish Mediterranean and British Seaside Towns). I hope to visit it for myself some day.
Let's hope this spearheads a Renaissance of American cities . I have been saddened by what I have seen taking place over the last decades, and it is happening in Britain now as well.
Charleston is one of the best cities in the US hands down
Wow what a great example of expanding upon our architectural culture and history. I wish more cities were doing this
I visited Charleston years ago, and it was so picturesque that I’ve dreamed of going back
There are cities in Poland, Germany, Hungary and elsewhere in Europe rebuilding back the classic architecture that was destroyed by that madman in WWII, one rebuild is the Főőrség palace next to Buda Castle in Budapest, it looks stunning and like it was always there!
Love the channel, would love to know what you think about Denver
Certainly, Charleston's revitalization is impressive, and it's great that they have the political will and the resources to push the city in a more livable direction. However, for the sake of generalizing this sort of walkability and QoL boom, the baseline focus should be on figuring out how the government can get out of the way of people who love their towns and want to do these sorts of projects on a small scale. The best cities in the country were all initially built through incremental change, each person or family taking small steps to build something new, eventually accumulating to . . . 'the magic of the city', if you will. A period of rebuilding civic pride via individual investment and the putting down of roots will be necessary so that what keeps the city developing in a positive way is something as durable as culture, not something as transient as political machinery.
Thanks for sharing.
Well done and thoughtful
this is an awesome video concept
I live in Charleston and it is really great but we do struggle with public transport but we a BRT like in the planing stage
Great video - both the presentation and the subject matter
Good work mate. That was interesting. Greetings from South Australia.
Congratulations to Charleston
Beautiful and great proof that building for density, the experience of residents and visitors, and for looks is possible and reasonable.
Cities to do next: Savannah, Ann Arbor, Santa Fe, Asheville NC, and Cincinatti
So good!
Many blacks left Charleston during the Jim Crow era for cities like NYC for example but Charleston still had a black majority well into the 1990s. It's only been in the last 20-30 years where the black population has decreased as a percentage of the total population dramatically. Unfortunately many of those families have been priced out of the city with the new growth. U can barely even find anyone with a native Charleston accent. The city has improved a lot but it has lost some of its uniqueness and culture in the last 30 years
wow I had no idea I would need to visit this city sometime soon
Very cool stuff! :D
4:49 When you mention this, I think it harms your argument more than helps it. The horror of American slavery, and I mean this for all of the Americas, comes from the fact that it was chattel and especially cruel and dehumanizing, more than in other places of the premodernist world. In other places, slaves had rights, but in the Americas they were treated like cattle.
Also, I don't know about Charleston specifically, but during Reconstruction there were many Black communities that were wealthy and had since been destroyed because of racism like Wilmington, NC, or Tulsa, OK.
I'd love to bring a similar model to Pueblo, Colorado. I think we really need this!
Very beautiful and amazing totally loved it.
These are great videos. I worry, that new urbanism risks being the urban renewal of the future. This, largely because the development/ownership model, as with urban renewal, is concentrated among a relatively few players. One of the things about cities like Boston or other older cities, you’ve looked at is that they grew organically via a bunch of small players who had an immediate interest in their surroundings because they worked and lived and played and owned locally. I would be curious what the ownership model is for Charleston because in the long term, commitment and investment, at least American style, seems to rely individual ownership. Beautiful architecture alone, while important can’t ultimately do all that is necessary for strong communities and thus strong urban places. Keep up the good work on your videos.! And thanks.
I hope that more architecture firms develop the city than just 1 so there's more variety in facade style
Hurricane Hugo was one of the best things to happen to Charleston in modern times. Prior to Hugo, Charleston was doing quite well. After Hugo, the pace and quality of rebuilding really took off into the new century. There is still a lot of awful modern buildings that are still there that could either be replaced or remodeled. The area where I-26 terminates at King St. used to be really, really bad but even that has improved greatly. Outside of the historic areas, North Charleston itself has improved quite a bit. It used to be a bunch of trailer parks up by the Air Force Base. Lived there in a house just off Tradd St 1994 - 2005. Listed the house and had four offers in three days over asking price. Moved west - way west. Hate the idea that the Nathaniel Russel House is being sold and may turn back into a private residence. Oh well. Charleston is a beautiful place to visit but it is too small, TOO conservative and too backwards. Visiting now feels like walking back to 1984.
The fact the present day photos STILL make it look appealing despite the horrendous HDR deep-frying is a true testament to the actual beauty they've achieved.
good video. subscribed
This city will only continue to thrive if it puts its foot down and builds an actual public transit system.
hell yeah
How can citizens take action in their cities to fight for prettier buildings? Isn't everything is owned and developed by private organizations?
Create a strong board that dictates how things get built
@@alexanderrotmensz What board exactly? I'm not really versed in these things, haha.
@@IkeSpeaksUpI think he called it an architectural review board
Heyyy!! I thought you talking about Charleston West Virginia!!
based.
I recommend taking a look at either Logansport indiana or Indianapolis
RAAAAAA CHARLESTON MENTIONED!!!!
Very good video
Charleston is Beautiful but it's expensive and with limited land I think it's time for Charleston to so vertical or it's gonna become so unlivably expensive that it will start to resemble NYC. There's plenty of empty lots and abandoned buildings to build denser more pedestrian friendly places.
We're fighting the same fight here in Columbia,SC trying to get the city to build denser places over these car centric developments.
Esse exemplo pode ser replicado nas áreas destruídas pela enchente em Canoas e Pprtp alegre.... claro, com infraestrutura resiliente a cheias. Aqui no RS precisamos reconstruir tudo.
You should do a video on everything wrong with Detroit.
"almost noobody alive in charleston would support such a thing such as slavery or jim crow" hey real quick what happened in charleston on June 17th 2015
Uh I don't know
You are scaring me
*What happened on June 17th 2015*
@@Mr.happy689a funny little get together of a certain group of angry guys.
@@shitlordflytrap1078 well I'm scared 😃
It's so funny to me that by virtue of restoring what was destroyed in the 60s, the city starts looking European.
It's not about the infrastructure. It's about the people. Some people want to live in a civilized society, some people don't.
Civilised society is a construct that needs to be maintained by more than just the people. If people are not given opportunity, they will become cynical.
@@shitlordflytrap1078 Peace be with you as I'm not pointing this message at you. Just my thoughts. Civilized people build and create their societies. Not sit at home waiting for hand outs. There are 350 million people in this country. only 150 million of them even work. Cut everyone off entitlements, except the elderly, and put everyone to work building a better community.
Charleston looks beautiful, quintessentially southern
Not sure how one fixes that flooding
Actually *GOOD* layout everyone everywhere is moving there!
My big sister moved there my uncle lives with my sister and when im able im moving there!
The traffic there sucks that needs alot of work worse in the mornings and eveningss
ANYWAYS i don't even live there yet i love that town 🥰☺️
Seems like Charlestown would benefit from trams.
@@shitlordflytrap1078 I do believe they already have trams there
Could be just bus's though
The problem with Charleston is the hurricanes and flood surges. In fact im wary of any coastal city. You really have to build everything with solid Concrete and elevated land to survive. This is true even if climate change wasn’t a thing.
Cool
So in short we need more hurricanes
Reminds me of my home bermuda
Will including wilmington, nc a rising city since is one of the fastest growing city in North Carolina?
Charleston really need building density, better bus tranportation, light rail lines and downtown amtrak train station.
Then, everything changed when a Battle Flag ruckus attacked.
Lancaster PA
Do Detroit please
How do you feel about a land value tax replacing other taxes/lowering other taxes (especially property tax)? It would promote growth and development in cities and in the economy as a whole as it would practically stop land speculating. It would also lower cost of housing and rent.
Those who live in the city will have higher land taxes and those who live farther away from it will have lower land taxes since urban areas are more desirable (supply and demand). This wouldn’t kick people who work or produce something however because of the other part of the system, the citizen’s dividend. A part of the tax revenue will go back to the citizen’s a the form of a citizens dividend which will prevent people from being forced to leave if they do something for the city unlike land speculators. Also, since these people would only pay a land value tax as their main tax; they would keep more of their income, savings, and earnings if a business since other taxes will be lower. This would not hurt farmers as the tax is based off value of land, not how much land you have and since farmers are found in rural areas, they will be taxed less. These farmers would also pay no property taxes and their other taxes would be lower. Everyone already pays a land value tax, but it is so low that it might as well not exist. One of the challenges regarding land value tax is how it would be assessed and there are multiple ways which include what natural resources are in your land such as water, how far away your land is from a metropolitan area, how much people are willing to buy for it in the form of an auction, and so on.
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Detroit Michigan is implementing a higher land tax to solve its problems: th-cam.com/users/live_A_Z96gZxIM?si=tXMrT9gkxC2C-_cz
What a land tax would stop:
th-cam.com/video/xqQhoZgFZgk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=itzesIpOL2SBdRXr
Edit: A land value tax also has zero dead weight/is inelastic/ and cannot be avoided since you can’t move land thus making it a tax that doesn’t hurt the economy (does the opposite) and is very stable.
2nd Edit: This would also encourage public transportation and things of the like since it would raise the value of the city meaning higher taxes to the city for more projects, but this wouldn’t affect the citizens at all because their citizen’s dividend would also go up. It’s a possible cycle of growth and development that benefits the citizen’s and its city. Think of it like this:
Land value tax is $28
Government gets $14
And citizens get back $14
As long as the citizen works or does anything to earn money then they can easily afford to live in the location.
If land tax increases to $300
Government gets $150
Citizens get back $150
As long as the citizen works or produces something then they can pay the tax, eventually the cost of living might become too much; but houses and rent would cost way less than they do now so you’ll be able to easily find another home. You could move or rent a store/house above or below your house to earn more income, but like I said before this won’t be necessary for most places. This is how land valuation tax would also help stop urban sprawl since developers would rather start building upward on the same plot of land rather than outward and gain more land which would mean more taxes.
Do Carmel Indiana
Can do Sacramento
Visited Sacramento a couple times and loved it. You can feel that it's like a Agricultural and farm production Heart of California. The surrounding fields of the city low key feel like an African Savannah Lol, especially like Folsom lake. I love that NorCal also has a huge variety of Victorian era homes. I'm over in San Diego, we're like the Defense City of Cali with all the military 👋😂
offical sponsor?
Been in Charleston since 1988 - We’re full. Go away.
If only they did this in wv
There’s nothing west African about the architecture 😂
Some of the buildings shown are terribly designed. Their footprints and visual mass is out of kilter with the architectural styles being used. I get the requirement to use heritage materials and maximize site value but some of the proportions of these buildings look ridiculous. How some of these got past an 'architectural board' are beyond me.
Well done for preserving the other built heritage though.
Looks nice (looks way too expensive for the dwindling middle class), but then again, I’m not fond of urban areas. I’m not a fan of boards and councils dictating what people can do with their property either.
With a whack rowdy-dow, and Charleston is taken!
Let’s be careful about glorifying Greystar. They are among the most predatory corporate landlords in the country. They should not get credit for doing things that are in their own self interest.
If out of their own self interest they make Charleston a better place to live, then that’s a win. I agree laws and regulations have to change, but you gotta take your wins in the meantime.